Car payment via Paypal, scam?

[jbk]

Selling a shed off cheap and a supposed buyer wants to 'pay and collect quickly', and are proposing to pay via paypal, and I'm suspicious. Are there scamming loopholes with payment via paypal? Could they pick up and then try and get refunded perhaps? I've said payment via my bank account only, but then I understand that the buyer may feel a bit too exposed. Safest and fairest method these days for such transactions?

[Matt_E_Mulsion]

Cash on collection.

[ImbackYo]

If there is any issue with the car you havent told them about, they will simply stop the payment and raise a dispute. Forget it.

[vikingaero]

I am a scammer and will either use:

- a hacked PayPal account that has funds. You would be amazed by how much money keep in their PayPal accounts as though it's safe. If they truly have thousands in their PP account they need to transfer it back to their bank account and pay you.
- use a stolen debit/credit card to fund the PP account.

In either case when the bank or PP find out they will reverse the transaction and you will owe PP money that they will try and take from your account so you need to delink your bank account and/or cards. They will pass it to their pet debt collector, DRS, who have no powers apart from emailing/phoning you constantly (easily blocked). So you will owe PP money and have lost your car to the scammer by accepting PayPal.

[hunt123]

Cash or bank transfer only.

[Funk]

As others have said - never ever take payment for anything of value via PayPal.

[jbk]

Thanks all for advices, including the confessed scammer for his/her altruistic advisory contribution!

[vikingaero]

jbk said:

Thanks all for advices, including the confessed scammer for his/her altruistic advisory contribution!

My original job was working for banks. I volunteered for about 10 years ago for CAB giving financial advice. The more cases I came across made me more interested in the eBay/PayPal stshow..

Seller sold an item of Dior jewellery for £500 on eBay, withdrew the money to her bank account a few days later to spend.
Buyer claimed it was fake and raised an item not as described claim. eBay accepted the sellers word and told her she could have a refund AND did not have to return the item!
PayPal tried to reclaim the £500 and couldn't due to insufficient funds.
PayPal passed the "debt" to their pet debt recovery company DRS. DRS emailed daily and called the seller multiple times to harass her into paying. I got the seller to block the emails and calls on her phone and sent DRS a cease and desist letter telling them to stop all emails and calls and to correspond only in writing. They don't like this as their business model is to hound people by email and phone as it's cheaper.
We submitted a complaint via PayPal which was rejected. At the 8 week point we went to the Financial Ombudsman and upped the complaint. I pointed out in the complaint that a County Court judge would likely throw the case out if they took the seller to Court - "You told the buyer they could keep the item AND have their money returned?!" PayPal withdrew the action and agreed not to pursue the debt.
The more I looked into it, the more I realised that PayPal rarely/never took people to Court. So if you have a complaint with them you can trash your PayPal/eBay account and not pay them back.

Seller was scammed by buyer on eBay where the buyer funded the transaction using a stolen debit card. Bank reversed the transaction a few days later and the seller ended up "owing PayPal few hundred pounds" and lost the item. Police gave a crime reference number and were absolutely not interested. Asked the seller if was he willing to scrap his eBay/PayPal account? Absolutely. Cease and desist letter sent.

Certainly back then, eBay/PayPal had no ability to put debt markers on peoples credit file.

[maz8062]

I was once scammed out of a £500 fridge on PayPal. The buyer bought the item off eBay and hurried me to collect the item. “I’m sending my driver now to collect the fridge” they emailed. Once they’d taken the fridge I got an email from PayPal saying the transaction was unauthorised - payment reversed, fridge gone. As it had been collected there was no buyer protection or anything. £500 scammed.

The only way around this type of scam is to wait and sit on the cash before releasing the item, or better still speak to PayPal first.

Bank transfer or cash only on high value items.

[siovey]

I'll never use PayPal again after being scammed out of a £1300 record box set. In my experience,
there's seemingly no protection for the seller. PayPal were investigating my issue .The 'buyer' then did a charge back through his bank and got his money from PayPal while the dispute was ongoing, for which PayPal happily charged me for. I'd personally avoid ANYTHING that involves PayPal. As advised above, cash on collection or Jog On! Good luck OP!